Secrets come in many shapes: a plan kept quiet, a glance no one is meant to see, a talent no one has discovered yet, a message no one can read. This topic gives each its own word.
Key idea
Secret actions: covert, clandestine, surreptitious, furtive, stealthy. Hidden meanings and motives: cryptic, veiled, ulterior. Hidden things: latent (there but not yet showing), elusive (hard to catch).
Notice the shades. Covert and clandestine describe whole plans; surreptitious, furtive and stealthy describe how a person moves or looks; and furtive adds a guilty air, since it comes from the Latin word for thief.
The ten words
Common mistake
covert (secret) and overt (open) are opposites. elusive (hard to catch) is not illusive (unreal).
| word | what is hidden | example |
|---|---|---|
| covert, clandestine | a whole plan or operation | a covert mission; clandestine meetings |
| surreptitious, furtive, stealthy | a look or a movement | a furtive glance; stealthy steps |
| cryptic, veiled | a meaning | a cryptic note; a veiled warning |
| ulterior | a motive | an ulterior motive |
| latent | a quality not yet showing | latent talent |
| elusive | something hard to catch | an elusive answer |
Two pairs to keep straight: covert (secret) and overt (open) are opposites, and elusive (hard to catch) is not illusive (unreal, like an illusion).